Raccoons

I looked up some information online and Wikipedia says this:
"Raccoons do not eat cats or dogs.[4] However, they will attack and fight if cornered. If a raccoon appears to be aggressive and showing abnormal behavior, such as appearing sick or disoriented,[5] then there is a good possibility that the raccoon is rabid.[6] In this case the proper authorities should be notified."

I'm not sure how reliable this information is. Maybe you could PM the IP vet, Dr. Phil and see what he says.

Oh Zoe, maybe I should come over and walk with you. I bark really loud and I'd scare those dumb ole raccoons away. Be careful out there!

The raccoon didn't seem aggressive or anything, but I just think it is weird to see them in the middle of the day, while people are out walking, biking, etc and them not retreating back into the wooded area. Zoe didn't even notice the raccoon. I was the one who was scared. It didn't make any moves towards us, but it did keep moving so that we were in its view...maybe that was its way of protecting itself????

I sure would like that Francie...I don't bark when we are on a walk. Momma said she thinks my barker is broke sometimes! I only bark at home or in the car when I have territory to protect! Although I did bark at Ringo at Bark Tutor a couple of weeks ago. Momma couldn't believe it. We just barked at each other for about 5 minutes and then it was all over! I went back to being my shy self.

Glad you and Ringo got to talk to each other. That Ringo is a barker, if I recall. Glad to hear that you talked back to him. You go girl! Don't let those boys outspeak you!

Yeah, I felt like I had to put my 2 cents in. Momma was proud.

Kris...I agree with you. I heard that if a nocturnal animal is out during the day, there is a good chance it has rabies. I would stay away from these raccoons.

This is very scary...I wonder if I should notify the apartment complex or animal control??? Any sugguestions?

We have lots of ferral cats too. I would hate to think that one of those raccoons could pass rabies to a ferral cat and then, the cats come up to our building because one of my neighbors feed them. We have lots of small children in the neighborhood too. I can see a little kid approaching the raccoon because it is "cute". I guess this is a bigger problem than I first thought it was.

Good luck with getting animal control out. I have seen quite a few racoons in the past 2 years who very obviously had distemper, you will know if they do. They stumble around and are very disoriented.

Las year there was one in my neigbors backyard tree. The home is owned by DAMAR which homes children with needs. There were 3 boys living in the house who could have very easily been hurt. Anyway, animal control forwarded us striaght to 911 and they were no help at all, they wouldnt do anything. They said to leave it alone and go inside.

Although I am not an expert I spent 3 summers while in college working with racoons and possums.(I have a degree in Wildlife Management) A racoon out in the middle of the day is definitely a problem. These racoons probabaly have rabies or distemer which is causing them to alter their normal activities. They shouldn't attack unless you corner them, but I would still stay as far away from them as possible because they can be unpredictable. I would call Animal Control and ask if they'd come and get it. If Animal Control is no help, I know that their are private Wildlife Removal companies that will come and get the racoons. I have no idea if they actually charge you anything, but it is worth checking on.

OK, so I called DNR because that is what Animal control website said to do. They were no help. They said, "someone is probably feeding it". I expressed my concern with all the pets in the neighborhood, children, and ferral cats. Still nothing...she did mention distemper, but said there is nothing that can be done unless I wanted to call a private company to remove the animal. I live in an apartment complex, SO, I called them. They said to me, no joke...."they were here before we were". Can you believe it? I said, "I understand that, but these are coming out in the middle of the day and do not seem afraid of people. I have heard this can be a sign of rabies. I am concerned about the pets and children in the neighborhood". His response was, "If it becomes a problem, I guess we can call a trapper". That was it. What do they consider a problem? When a child gets bitten or one of our pets gets attacked? I did every thing in my power today to get something done and I accomplished nothing. Both of these people just dismissed my concerns.

Wow, that sucks. But its kinda understandable because most poeple see racoons as cute little, harmless creatures. I honesty don't think the racoons will attack Zoe, but I'd still stay as far away from them as possible....

We had a sick racoon around our house last year. He was out during the day and scrounging the yard for whatever. He didn't pay any attention to people passing by at all. It was obvious he was sick, but there was nothing we could do for him. In a couple of days he was gone and never seen again. He was never agressive, so he never bothered anyone. The only time I was nervous about him was when the kids were walking home from school. I just stood in my driveway and made sure the kids walked far enough around him. They did. Poor racoon...I knew he didn't feel good. Made me sad.

I don't know. I think any wild animal would attack if they felt threatened. Last winter, my boyfriend had a raccoon visitor in his yard. My boyfriend is seriously afraid of raccoons and there was a baby one following his Boxer around the yard like it was his mama. Then, my boyfriend got his dog in the house and the next think he knew the baby raccoon was peeping in the back door window with his paws on the glass. My boyfriend freaked. I wish I could have seen his face. Unfortunately, the raccoon curled up near his porch and died. I found it so sad. I bet he lost his mom and had no where to go. I tried to feed him but my boyfriend would not let me. Then, when the raccoon was still alive, I tried to see if I could get a wildlife-person to come and get him and take him into the wild. I had no luck.

I know from living in the middle of nowhere that raccoons are capable of eating small pets. The problem is that people are taking over their areas and there isn't enough food. Plus they are smart enough and bold enough to come out in the day time. But be careful either way, 6 pounds is nothing! But I don't think we should kill them. Maybe you could find someone to trap and then release them.

I may be way wrong, but I think I read last year that in 2007 there was only one reported case of rabies in Indiana. Most sick raccoons have distemper (at least that's what the DNR told me when I called them about a sick raccoon in my yard. ) They told me I could shoot it. Great, I don't even own a gun, not to mention actually shoot it even though it was sick. I told them there were small kids and someone could get bitten, but no one ever would come out. I eventually got it out of my yard with a snowshovel and put it in a small wooded area.

I think I read that the animal that is most likely to carry rabies in Indiana is the skunk and/or bat. But don't completely discount raccoons.

There were multiple incidents in Washington state within the last year or so of raccoons killing and eating cats...